Kinder Noble '06 is used to the excitement building up to a big game, the eyes of the crowd, the rush of leading the cheers. What she's not used to is seeing it all through the eyes of a hot, sweaty tiger suit.
Noble is the latest in the line of University tiger mascots. Ten applicants went through the Department of Athletics revamped application process this semester, designed to raise the profile of the position and generate excitement about athletics among the student body.
After filling out a written application, the applicants were interviewed by the Office of Athletic Relations and Marketing. The shortlisted candidates then participated in a cheerleading practice so the squad could make recommendations before the department made their final decision.
"For now Kinder is the only tiger committed, but we'll probably choose two others by the end of the month," said Brie Galicinao, assistant director of athletics relations and marketing. "We usually have two regularly scheduled mascots during the winter since there are so many games."
Noble was a Tiger cheerleader during her freshman year, but even then she had her sights set on the mascot position. "I'd decided that it was something I wanted to do, so when I saw the application at the activities fair I was like 'Yes, it's finally my turn to do it.'"
"I thought Kinder was a great choice. I know her well from our time on the squad together and thought that she had great school spirit and would work well with kids," Luani Lee '05, cheerleading co-captain, said.
"I feel like a tiger — inside and out!" Noble said. "When I found out that I'd got into Princeton I automatically became a huge tiger fan. In my room I've got tigers everywhere — stuffed tigers, banners, beaded curtains with tigers on them. Being the tiger seemed like the ultimate way to show that spirit."
Noble joins a tradition of University mascots that originated in 1923 with a real live tiger. The tiger was captured in India by the father of football player Albert F. Howard '25 and brought back to Princeton as a mascot, according to the book "Tigers of Princeton."
At the time, the local community did not share Howard's school spirit, and the live tiger was sent to a zoo after only a few weeks on the job, but the tradition was revived in the 1940s with an undergraduate dressed in a tiger suit.
In 1973 — the year in which the first coeducational class graduated — the Yale football game saw the traditional tiger accompanied by a female tiger for the first time, complete with a large orange bow on her mane and a smaller one on her tail.
Today, the gender of the tiger mascot is a closely guarded secret — at least from the children at the pre-game Tiger Town. It's one of the three main rules the mascot must observe, along with not talking and never taking off the head. "They always want to know if you're a boy or a girl, and obviously you can't say anything," Noble said.
The anonymity has its benefits. "I was never scared about going out onto the field as a cheerleader, and being the tiger is even less scary. You don't have to worry about being a dork and dancing goofy because only your friends know who you are, and they know you're goofy," Noble said.
Her predecessor had some warnings for her, though. "There are always gangs of middle school boys who want to beat you up," Emily Henkelman '04 said. "And she should watch out for the Penn Quaker — he would always challenge me to a fight on the field."
Henkelman's route to becoming the tiger was slightly less formal than this year's selection process.
"I had a long search to find who was in charge at the Athletics Department," she said. "Then I was told I could be the third-string tiger and should come to the first game to shadow the girl who was first choice. When I turned up in the tunnel, the woman was like 'She hasn't turned up. Here's the suit, don't talk, don't take the head off.' Then she shoved me onto field."
Henkelmen said she remembered Noble during her time on the cheerleading squad. "I'm defintely pleased she's taking over," she said.
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